…always talking with my mouth full…

…london bridge is falling down…

August 10, 2011

I was out of touch with technology and the world for a big part of the weekend, spending it with friends I don’t get to see often enough and showing them around the city of San Francisco, so imagine my surprise on Monday, when I took a break at the Oakland Zoo to check my twitter stream.

I was slammed with tweets that I had no context for indicating that something dire and drastic was taking place in England, and I set out to figure out what was happening.

Now, I get protesting a perceived injustice. I get standing up to demand change. I even get rioting to oust a violent and unchanging government.

I can not comprehend the actions that have taken place, however. A man died due to police action, and the response to that is to loot unrelated businesses, attack people who had nothing to do with the shooting, create mayhem?

How is that a rational response to anything?

Obviously I will not be the first to point out that this is a symptom, that this points to the general dissatisfaction of the people with their society and it’s failure to meet what they see as their needs.

But if that is the case, how far are we here in the States from a similar incident? We’ve seen it before on a smaller scale. I am old enough to remember when the Rodney King verdict came in and the response to that. I live not far from the BART station where police killed a man, and I saw the area lock itself down pending the court decision regarding the man who did the shooting, afraid of looting and rioting.

Unemployment, debt, the general atmosphere of hopelessness that occupies a good portion of our country…these are all ingredients in the concoction that could explode in an ever-increasing web of meaningless violence. It wouldn’t take much of a push.

And yet, our politicians continue to dick around with DOMA and other issues that add to the unease, rather than applying themselves to finding a way to relieve the suffering of the average American. Jobs are what we need, not more legislation regarding our marriages, sex partners or the definitions of our family units.

Stop worrying about the immigration status of a husband of a dying man. Let him take care of the one he loves. Stop interfering in what should be a personal decision to wed two lives together. Stop wasting time fighting across the aisle like a bunch of grade school ruffians and bullies.

Washington DC could easily find itself looking a lot like London does right now if the elected elite don’t stop acting like toddlers crying “mine” over every little thing.

Pull your heads out of your asses, people, and focus on the reasons you were elected…and be grateful I’m not in charge of cutting the budget for you. The first thing to go would be your salaries. You try living on minimum wage for a while. We’ll take the excess and fund some programs that y’all cut in order to keep your pay, you know the ones that actually TRY to help those in need. We’ll invest it in new initiatives that will create jobs.

While we’re at it, why not do something to make it inviting to industry to bring home all of those jobs that they shipped overseas? Why not sell off some of the government land that is sitting empty and unused? There are solutions out there.

Put your metaphorical dick back in your pants. No one cares who has the bigger one, and none of us want to see it. I don’t care what label you claim, it’s time to do your job and realize that riots on the streets in America are not all that far away.